The New Era
by StarlightDragon1636
Summary: The new generation of Rescue and Exploration has arrived at La Guilde de l'Espoir. But the previous generation's troubles still exist. How can the new era put up with the secrets and crimes of the past? Only time will tell...


Mystery Dungeon story

How does one begin a story? It's usually the hardest part, and the most important. If you can't get someone interested in what you have to tell, then what can you do? Well, here this won't be much of a problem. After all, you're still reading this aren't you? But all that aside, let's move on to the good stuff. The reason why you bothered to go this far. We shall begin…with a sunset.

And what a glorious sunset it is. Especially when viewed from a verdant hillside, sitting on the edge, and gently strumming away at a shamisen as the warm, gentle breeze goes by, and smoking a pipe made of briar. A Lucario was doing such a thing, with his one eye closed. Unlike most of his species, his blue fur was replaced with the deep orange of the sunset and he had visible musculature. He wore a brown great coat that was open and held in place by the topmost buttons. The top half of his left ear was missing, with only a clean diagonal cut in its place, and he wore a black eye patch on his left, with the edges of a scar peeking out.

Around his neck was a periwinkle blue scarf with a symbol on either end: A black shield with crimson and gold trim with three crossed rapiers on the front, and a sprig of olive under it. For a good ten minutes the Lucario simply sat on the soft grass, playing his shamisen and smoking his briar pipe, utterly relaxed. Then the sound of footsteps became audible, and the Lucario opened his one eye to look at who was coming. It was a Gardevoir, short for her kind, and a little stout, wearing spectacles and carrying a clip board in her hands.

"Guildmaster" she said in a honeyed voice, "Guildmaster Beldryn." She pronounced the name with the "d" silent. "I came to let you know that the new recruits have arrived and are bedded down for the night. The staff is waiting for you in the main house." The Lucario, Beldryn, nodded and played out a final line of notes on the shamisen. He stood up, picking up a walking stick that had been lying in the grass at his side and slung the instrument over his shoulder.

"Alright" he said his voice soft but a bit gruff, "Let's get going Miss Fleur." He started down the hill's slope with Miss Fleur, his secretary, following after. "Sir, I could just teleport us back." "No thank you Miss Fleur, but I want to walk. It's a nice evening after all" said the Lucario as he let out a puff of smoke from the other side of his mouth.

As he walked down the hill he paused briefly to touch a paw to the tower that stood on the hill, and give a nod to the Patrat and Watchdog standing watch at the top. At the bottom of the hill was an old dirt path that led to dirt road that stretched out to a distant crossroads and a town in the other direction. It was toward the town the two headed, Miss Fleur still trying to convince Guildmaster Beldryn to let her teleport the two to their destination. "You're going to keep everyone waiting sir. You know they can't start dinner without you." "Good, it'll teach them the value of patience before getting to eat."

"That doesn't seem fair to the staff!" "Life isn't fair. If it was I'd still have my entire left ear and eye." "That's hardly an excuse" Miss Fleur shouted, waving her arms about. Beldryn opened his mouth to say something, but shut it a moment after. "Nonetheless" he said after a while, "I want to walk. It isn't often that I get to go through town these days, what with the work piling up. And besides, we're already in the outskirts of town." And so they were. Said town was Greenvale, a town one acre short of being a village. The outskirts mainly consisted of one story houses with small gardens, or whatever best suited the Pokémon living in them.

Several young Pokemon who were playing in their yards yelled out greetings to the passing Lucario and Gardevoir, the former gave a casual wave without facing them while the latter actually did face them and greet the young ones. "Do you have a problem with that sir" asked Miss Fleur as the two entered the inner part of town, where the shops, guilds, warehouse, and Town Hall were. "With what" said Beldryn as he looked to the equipment, berry, and medicine shops on the left side of the main street, and then to the warehouse down a path that diverged from the main street, a fortune teller's deep purple tent shaped house, and the Whismer Café.

Ahead was the town square, which had a small park with a fountain in the center, and the Town Hall and Bank opposite to each other. Looking back, Beldryn could still see Watchtower Hill, where he had been earlier. Several other Pokemon that were going about their business paused to greet the two. "Glad I chose this town to set up in" said Guildmaster Beldryn. "It's peaceful, mostly quiet when there aren't any festivals going on, and close to two major crossroads." "That's nice sir" said Miss Fleur, "But this place does have its share of trouble too. Remember that Gyrados and Tyranitar that were fighting each other last year?"

Beldryn shuddered slightly. "Thank Arceus they never made it further than the outskirts. Any further, and the damage would have been worse." As the two were talking they took an eastward heading path that went by several buildings, some were designed in the shape of Pokemon heads, and some were basic houses. These were the headquarters of the independent rescue teams and Guilds stationed in Greenvale. Some were well known and respected, and others were less reputable.

The one the two were heading for was at the end of the street, and blocked from view by a solid stone wall as high as two Golurks standing on one another, with a solid oak door reinforced with steel being the only entrance. The sentinels standing on either side of the gate also happened to be Golurks. Beldryn approached the gate, taking the pipe out of the right side of his mouth as he did and turning it over, tapping the bottom of the bowl three times to dislodge the unburned pipe weed, or dottle. The two Golurk slowly raised their arms and clapped them once, and let their arms fall to their sides again.

There was the sound of heavy gears and chains in motion and the gate slowly raised, Beldryn and Miss Fleur ducking under it when it was high enough. Once the two were safely inside the walls the gate immediately dropped back into place with a heavy thud. "Hmmm, could have cut it a bit closer" muttered Beldryn, and Miss Fleur just shook her head in exasperation. Inside the walls was a massive estate. Against the walls to their left and right were one story buildings with several green doors and windows. These were the barracks for the non staff members of the Guild. Before the two Pokemon was a large garden with still more dirt paths running between the grass, flower patch, and trees.

At the other side of the main path was a large, six story mansion with an exterior of marble and built in the style of the country estates, situated well away from the walls. Apart from that there were no fancy features, at least none that were visible on this side of the property. "Home sweet home" said Miss Fleur as the two approached the double doors, bending quickly to sniff at some roses. "Oh come on Miss Fleur, you haven't been gone for more than half an hour." "I'm just enjoying the fact we have such a nice place to begin with sir. And the silence, the silence is good." A wry smile touched the Guildmaster's face.

"Oh yes, I forgot. With all these new recruits it's going to be hectic tomorrow after the orientation." Beldryn pulled out a key from his greatcoat and unlocked one of the doors, opening it and standing to the side for Miss Fleur to enter first. "Such a gentleman" she said as she entered the carpeted foyer. Directly before the Gardevoir was an L shaped desk with the odd statuette, family photo, and a lamp powered by a thunderstone. Behind the desk and slightly to the right were two massive cork boards with golden plaques above them that said "Search and/or Rescue, and "Bounty" respectively.

"We really should consider getting something done about this place" said Miss Fleur as she pointed to the mostly barren foyer and hallways on either side. "On the public floor" asked Beldryn as he re-locked the door behind him. "Too expensive. We already impress the public as it is." He nodded to the empty cork boards. "Be glad when we fill those up again tomorrow. Empty job boards make me nervous." The two started down the hall to the left toward another pair of doors, from which the faint sound of chatter could be heard. "Everyone's in the kitchen Miss Fleur?" "Yes sir." "Good." Beldryn took the shamisen from his shoulders and handed it to Miss Fleur. "Take that up to my room, and bring me back some more pipe weed. The after dinner type please."

"Of course sir" said the Gardevoir as she took the shamisen in one hand, and vanished in a flash of light. Beldryn blinked a few times and started towards the door again while muttering, "Teleport. It just has to make a flash of light like that." He slipped through the doors into the mess hall. It was one of the larger rooms in the manor; with rumor having it the Guildmaster had made a deal Palkia himself to make the room disproportionate. It was primarily made of a dark wood, had a high ceiling, and three very long tables of the same wood as the walls and floor. Along the walls were various plaques, shields, trophies, ribbons, and other awards that denoted the success of teams both past and present.

Further into the room the floor began to gently slope upwards, with another table, this one much grander in design but no less sensible, was situated. This was the staff table, where the guild's employees and master normally ate. Behind the table was a grand fireplace with the same symbol on Guildmaster Beldryn's scarf above it. It was currently unlit, though there were several logs stacked in place and ready to go. Down the slope and to the right were two oak doors framed with steel and with portholes in them. On the doors were signs that said "In" and "Out" respectively. These led to the kitchen, and the Guildmaster went through the correct door.

The kitchen was a large, state of the art room with plenty of shiny, clean surfaces and well kept tools of the trade. In a corner of the room was a plain wooden table with ten seats around it. There was a Loudred, a Chatot, a matronly Blissey wearing a nurse's hat, a bespectacled Alakazam, an elderly Jynx that also wore glasses, and a Weavile. There was an Absol lying on the ground near the table, who Beldryn nodded to as he sat down in one of the remaining chairs. "Evening everyone" he said as he tossed his greatcoat over the chair back.

"You took your sweet time" said the Weavile. "As per the usual routine he follows around this time" responded the Jynx. "Every time we get new recruits it's always like this. I mean, I know it's a nice day out and all, but would it kill you to hurry up" the Weavile continued. "Oh quit complaining Samiel" Beldryn said to the Weavile. "I'm here now. By the way, where are Evron and Blade?"

"They've decided not to eat with us tonight" said Solomon, the Alakazam. "I really don't understand why though, you'd think they'd take the time to eat with their own comrades." Beldryn grunted noncommittally and sat back as the food was brought to the table. It consisted mainly of vegetable dishes, with the odd plate of Magikarp on a bed of rice. "So, any promising looking ones in the new group" asked the Guildmaster between sips of soup.

The Chatot and Louded leaned toward each other and exchanged a few whispered words. "None more than any other" said the Chatot in a soft voice, forcing everyone present to strain their hearing. "THEY'RE ALL EQUAL IN POTENTIAL" shouted the Loudred, causing all present to wince. "I really wish you wouldn't do that" muttered Beldryn as he rubbed at his ears. "At any rate, I'm glad there isn't any inequality among them." Just then Miss Fleur appeared in a flash of light next to Beldryn, and passed him a small brown package. "Your pipe weed sir" she said as she started filling a bowl with soup for herself.

"Any interesting news for me, Elijah" asked Beldryn to the Absol as he pushed the pipe weed into place and lit it with a match Miss Fleur proffered him. "And for Arceus' sake, no gossip. Just the facts." Elijah gave a pointedly disappointed look at that.

"But that's the best stuff!" Beldryn just gave him a look. "Fine" huffed Elijah. "The big news is that there's been a string of robberies going on, all of which are preceded by a disaster elsewhere that forces anyone who can stop the thieves to go and help out. The police of the various towns are exchanging information and ideas on how to combat this, but so far no good."

The Guildmaster nodded and took a pull of his pipe, and a sip of some proffered berry juice. "Anything else interesting?" "Well…mind you this is only a rumor, but a traveler from a city in the far north said that war was brewing." Everyone frowned at that. "War in the north?" asked Solomon. "What is it over?" Elijah shrugged, or the best approximation of one. "Dunno. The traveler didn't say anything else, and he's already left town." Beldryn leaned back into his chair, smoking and thinking about the news. After five minutes had passed he leaned forward again. "This war, if it happens, is in the far north right?" Elijah nodded. "Then we shouldn't have to worry too much about it, but let's not forget about it either."

Everyone nodded gravely. Beldryn laid his pipe aside and lifted up his glass. "But let's rejoice. With so many new faces in the Guild there are that many new legends that'll be made. New stories, new adventures, and it'll be us who ushers in this new generation. I propose a toast, to the new era." "To the new era" everyone repeated, and clinked their glasses together.


End file.
